DE 44 15 467 C1 discloses a safety belt device for motor vehicles with a vehicle seat, which is displaceably arranged relative to the vehicle body and, in the event of an impact, pyrotechnically caused to carry out a compulsory motion opposite to the direction of impact. A belt retractor, a damping element and an elastic wire cable are adapted to one another in such a way that a subsequent motion in the direction of impact is decelerated as gently as possible.